I too know Ted, who's running for Texas Attorney General, and think very highly of him: He is extremely smart, an "outstanding advocate" (as Orin notes), and in general the very sort of serious, accomplished, and highly professional lawyer that I wish we had more of in elected politics. (As Orin points out, he clerked for Chief Justice Rehnquist, has served as Texas Solicitor General, and is now the head of the Morgan Lewis appellate practice.)

Ted's views are more solidly conservative than mine. But I would have gladly voted for him if I were a Texan; not being a Texan, all I could do was contribute to his campaign, and I would encourage others to do the same.

My friend and co-clerk (with Chief Justice Rehnquist), Ted Cruz, is running for Attorney General (he served for several years as the state's Solicitor General), as a Republican, in Texas. Ted is -- no surprise, for a Republican running in Texas -- a conservative, and he and I have not always seen eye-to-eye on policy matters (including capital punishment. MOJ readers in Texas should know, though, that -- besides being a stalwart friend and a prince among men -- Ted is solid as a rock, and inspiringly passionate, when it comes to school choice and education reform. In fact, the first conference I ever organized I organized with Ted. It was a big event, in Ohio, which dealt with the social-justice and religious-freedom aspects of the school-choice issue. To have such a committed advocate, on such an important matter, in the AG's office, in one of the largest states, would be a very good thing.

I remember that conference, too, and I remember how forceful and effective Ted's speech on the subject was. I think that was only the second time I'd met Ted, and it made me think that here was a man who was going to go far -- which he is indeed doing.

Ted looks like a fine young man, but his site doesn't make clear why he is running against Greg Abbott, the incumbent attorney general who is also a Republican. Now Greg is ambitious and may run for Kay Bailey Hutchenson's seat in the Senate if she quits to run for governor. But I haven't heard any news of that.

Well, I won't donate money to him nor will I vote for him (nor for his Republican rivals). He's far too conservative for my tastes. However, I know a Democrat has no chance of winning and I won't lose any sleep if Cruz gets it.

Ugh Greg Abbott, what a farce. Hypocrite of the highest order. He got hit by a tree limb when he was jogging, which left him in a wheelchair. He then sued and won millions of dollars (I believe he still receives hundreds of thousands of dollars a year from that lawsuit). That's all well and good, but the man then runs on a platform of tort reform, attempting to prevent the type of payouts that he is still receiving. Disgusting. Typical Texas republican.

But Ted Cruz is awesome. He should win in a landslide, and he will be phenomenal. He's hugely talented, brilliant, and very principled. Exciting development for the state . . .

To Houston Lawyer: Ted's simply not waiting to see what Abbott is planning to do, unlike everyone else who has expressed interest in the seat. Abbott is clearly going to make some kind of move (most think he'll run for Lt Gov), he's got too much money in his campaign account to simply be running for another term as AtyGnl.

Mr. Cruz' website identifies "defending the Ten Commandments" as first among his accomplishments. Whether that reflects most poorly on (1) his judgment, (2) his accomplishments or (3) the judgment he perceives Texan audiences to possess is difficult to determine.

What people seem to be missing here is Ted's awesome Canadian heritage. Born in Canada, Ted was the first Canadian Solicitor General in the history of Texas' then 3-year-old Solicitor General's office. He's also the first Canadian ever to run for Texas Attorney General, and the first Canadian Hispanic ever to clerk for Justice Rehnquist. Ever proud of his Canadian heritage, I'm sure its exclusion on his website is a mere oversight.

I first met Ted in college when I had to debate against him, and he kicked my arse. Since then, I've gotten to know him better, and have nothing but the utmost respect for him and tremendous admiration of his legal talent.

"Go Canada" is a bit of a stalker apparently. He/she has placed a similar post on nearly news story about Mr. Cruz's run in the past few months. From a florida newspaper:

By Go Canada!
January 29, 2009 1:54 PM | Link to this
I am a proud lover of all things Canadian and think it's pretty offensive that the Statesman isn't reporting Ted's Canadian heritage. Ted was the first Canadian solicitor general ever in the history of Texas, and he's very proud of his Canadian heritage (I think it's why he goes by "Ted" even though it is not his real name). Everyone in Texas should love Canada as I do and embrace the Canadian in this race!

I'm curious how others perceive Cruz's style of speaking. I love the deliberate nature of the words, his pace, and his inflections, but I know they annoyed the hell out of some of the attendees at the Fed Soc symposium last week.

I wonder if MLB found the star appellate associates they were heavily recruiting to work with Ted and build the firm's appellate &Supreme Court practice? If so, I wonder how those associates are feeling now?

I have several friends who were recruited by Ted to join his new office. None accepted after doing due diligence. The man has great oratorical skills, but his past employees and colleagues have nothing positive to say about him. I don't know any details, but maybe someone here can provide us with some.

Comment Policy: We reserve the right to edit or delete comments, and in extreme cases to ban commenters, at our discretion. Comments must be relevant and civil (and, especially, free of name-calling). We think of comment threads like dinner parties at our homes. If you make the party unpleasant for us or for others, we'd rather you went elsewhere. We're happy to see a wide range of viewpoints, but we want all of them to be expressed as politely as possible.

We realize that such a comment policy can never be evenly enforced, because we can't possibly monitor every comment equally well. Hundreds of comments are posted every day here, and we don't read them all. Those we read, we read with different degrees of attention, and in different moods. We try to be fair, but we make no promises.

And remember, it's a big Internet. If you think we were mistaken in removing your post (or, in extreme cases, in removing you) -- or if you prefer a more free-for-all approach -- there are surely plenty of ways you can still get your views out.